the next step
by no cure for crazy
Summary: She still can't believe that the moving in together, that it's actually happening. There's no more talk, no more discussion – it's real.


AN: So this is me trying my hand at a short little parkwest story and probably failing, but I feel pretty happy about this so...I guess it's not _too_ terrible. Even if it probably is. And of course, I just had to throw in the slightest bit of Barry/Iris/Linda bickering/friendship cause I'm a sucker for that.

Disclaimer: I don't own the flash - obviously.

* * *

Iris drops the box she was carrying in the small hallway and leans back against the wall to catch her breath. She lets her eyes fall close for a moment and lets her head fall backwards. All morning she's been helping Linda moving her things into Iris' apartment, all the trips back and forth from the moving van have made her exhausted – even with Barry's help. Iris thought she had too much stuff, but that was before she met Linda.

A rush of air has the lose piece of her hair that have fallen from her messy bun blowing backwards and kissing her face.

"Sleeping on the job?" Barry jokes, placing his box next to the rest of them.

"Oh shut up," Iris tosses back, pushing away from the wall and settling herself on the cardboard box nearest her. "It's not my fault Linda has so much stuff."

"And in Iris' defense, you offered," Linda calls over top of the box she's carrying. "Oh and by the way, Thanks Barry."

Barry waves them off. "Really it was nothing even if the two of you are totally capable of doing this yourselves."

"Well if you didn't own so much stuff," Iris jokes, crossing her arms. "And I'm sure this probably isn't all of it."

"Actually," Linda say in a huff, dropping her box. "This is the last one."

Iris raises an eyebrow. "I'm sure it is."

"I swear it is," Linda defends. She purses her lips and her eyes squint up. "Or at least I think it is."

Iris groans at the thought of having to carry more boxes. "Please no."

"Well she isn't the only one with a lot of things, Iris," Barry states. "I was there when you and Eddie first moved in together and we grew up together, I know just how much crap you own."

"Hush Barry," Iris says, reaching out to slap his hand.

"Thank you Barry," Linda says holding out her hand for a fist bump as she walks to where she left her suitcase. "I'm just going to take the rest of my clothes and put them in the bedroom," she calls over her shoulder before leaving the two friends alone.

"Really though, thanks, Barry," Iris says, turning to face her best friend.

"It's still a little weird you know, my best friend with my ex-girlfriend," Barry admits. "But as long as you're happy, so am I."

Iris smiles. "I am."

"Good," Barry says, pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad….That's all I've ever wanted for you."

The ringing of a phone pulls them apart. "Well, I'm going to let you two be….that was Caitlin, I got to get to STARR labs," Barry slides, sliding his phone back in his pocket.

"Go save the city, Barry," Iris says with a smile.

"Have fun kicking some metahuman ass," Linda adds, returning to the two of them with a smirk on her face cause the two to laugh. She glances over at Iris. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine, perfect actually, everything is just falling into place," Iris responds. She leans forward and places a kiss on the corner of Linda's mouth. "And the best part is we have Barry's blessing….The not so good part is unpacking all this stuff and putting it away."

"It's no big deal," Linda says with a shrug. "We can do it."

She walks into the living room, looking for where she left the scissors and picks them up from the coffee table. She spins on her heel to face Iris, holding up the scissors. "Now let's get to work."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Iris questions coming back from the kitchen with two bottles of water.

"Taking a break," Linda responds, glancing up at her and trying to regulate her breathing.

Iris waves her hand over the now smaller sea of boxes scattered across her living room. "And what about the rest of this mess of yours? Are we just going to leave it?"

"For now why don't we just make some popcorn and watch and movie and relax for a while before tackling that crap," Linda suggests, leaning back on the couch. "Besides, I don't think it will help either of us if we pass out from exhaustion in the middle of your apartment."

Iris closes the distance between them and flops down on the couch next to her, handling Linda one of the bottles of water before uncapping her own. "Maybe you're right," she says, taking a drink of the cool liquid and savoring it as it slides down her throat.

"You know I am," Linda shoots back, pushing herself up from the couch. "I'm gonna go grab my laptop."

Iris sighs and stands up from the couch to make her way to the kitchen to pop some popcorn. Along the way, she glances at the boxes in her living knowing they're going to have fun later on when they go through everything and sort it. It still brings a smile to Iris' face when she thinks about the fact that she and Linda are taking the next step. That they're moving in together and it's actually _happening_. There's no more talk, no more discussion – it's _real._

It's been a slow process over time, some of Linda's decorations slowly appearing on Iris' walls, Linda's clothes slowly appearing in Iris' closet – fighting each other for space, shoes that aren't hers scattered across her bedroom floor. Over time, her apartment has become less her space and more _theirs_ and thinking about it brings a smile to Iris' face.

"What are you smiling about?" Linda asks with a raised eyebrow.

Iris meets Linda's gaze as the microwave beeps signaling that their popcorn is done.

"This," Iris replies, simply, reaching for the bowl to pour the popcorn into. Iris drops the now empty popcorn bag into the trash as she makes her way back to the living room and Linda follows her. "It's just that I haven't been this happy in a long time and it's just – it's wonderful."

Linda smiles. "It is pretty great, isn't it?" She tilts her head towards the living room. "Now let's go watch that movie."


End file.
